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BUSINESS
Jun 14, 2002

Economy shows signs of stabilizing: BOJ

The economy shows signs of stabilizing as exports and industrial production pick up, the Bank of Japan said Thursday. But it cautioned that structural problems and economic uncertainty in the United States are likely to slow the pace of recovery.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2002

Broadband seen buoying Japan over U.S.

Japan could overwhelm the United States economically by focusing on broadband technology, Sony Corp. Chairman Nobuyuki Idei said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2002

Koizumi to pursue basic food safety law

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday he will seek enactment of a new basic food safety law next year in a bid to erase widespread public distrust stemming from the government's failure to keep mad cow disease out of Japan.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2002

Hiranuma to urge happy ending to steel tariffs drama

Trade minister Takeo Hiranuma said Tuesday he plans to urge U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick during telephone talks this week to strive to avert Japan's planned retaliatory action against a range of steel import tariffs imposed by Washington.
BUSINESS
Jun 11, 2002

Advertising sales bottom out while cinema sales flicker

Falling sales at advertising agencies in April began to show signs of bottoming out, while the fading effects of a popular animation film led to a downturn for cinema operators, a survey of the nation's service industries showed Monday.
BUSINESS
Jun 11, 2002

Science minister pursues creation of biotech panel

The state minister in charge of science and technology on Monday unveiled a plan to create a panel of government and business leaders to help coordinate development efforts in biotechnology, science ministry officials said.
COMMENTARY
Jun 9, 2002

Labour's dearth of dissent

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair could be suffering from the first signs of the madness of princes. It is paranoia, and it afflicts almost every political man who has ambition but does not have the security of the divine right of kings (the madness of kings being grandiosity or megalomania.)...
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2002

Kidnapped boy, 6, rescued; six held

Police on Saturday rescued a 6-year-old Chinese boy who had been kidnapped two days earlier from a store near his home in Tokyo's Adachi Ward and held for a 15 million yen ransom, and arrested six people.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 9, 2002

In step with the real Japan

We both confess to complete and utter madness, but we've been having a whale of a time -- and not only down in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, where the International Whaling Commission had its recent roughhouse, and where we completely pigged out on kujira no niku (whale meat) before heading on to...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jun 9, 2002

The walls that connect us

"Good fences make good neighbors." Which means -- if we extrapolate this bit of Robert Frost wisdom a little further -- Japan should have some of the best neighbors in the world.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 9, 2002

In step with the real Japan

We both confess to complete and utter madness, but we've been having a whale of a time -- and not only down in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, where the International Whaling Commission had its recent roughhouse, and where we completely pigged out on kujira no niku (whale meat) before heading on to...
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2002

Japanese NPO, Chinese college plan grad school

A Japanese nonprofit organization that promotes education in Japan and China will establish a graduate school in Tianjin, China, for Japanese and Chinese students in September in cooperation with a Chinese state university.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2002

Most hospitals not prepared to handle domestic violence

Some 86 percent of the nation's hospitals and clinics lack measures for dealing with victims of domestic violence, according to the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2002

Sometimes 'open' schools are more secure

OSAKA — The main gate of Hakata Elementary School in the city of Fukuoka is kept wide open.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2002

Most schools canceled trips abroad following Sept. 11

Two-thirds of high schools planning school excursions abroad in fiscal 2001 opted instead for domestic destinations in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2002

Neglected farmland a potential disaster

Failure to properly maintain farmlands and forests in underpopulated areas could promote disasters in the 21st century, the government said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 4, 2002

Hollow debate on Diet extension

Discussions and bargaining on an extension of the current session of the Diet, which is scheduled to end on June 19, are heating up. Speculation about the extension of a Diet session that is tied up with the existing political situation is not unusual in itself, but discussions that reflect a leadership...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2002

Activists put themselves in firing line

It was April 1, and Aisa Kiyosue and nearly 100 other activists from around the world were marching toward the Dehesha refugee camp in Beit Jala, northern Bethlehem, in an attempt to block it from an anticipated attack by the Israeli Army. They were in high spirits, clapping and singing songs of protest,...
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2002

Survey shows regional gaps in Internet use

A wide regional digital divide exists in Japan despite government efforts to spread Internet use, according to a recent telecom ministry survey on household consumption.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2002

Duskin to shelve openings of new Mister Donut shops

OSAKA — Duskin Co. has pledged to refrain from opening new Mister Donut shops until March following public outcry over the company's handling of a banned antioxidant found in its meat dumplings.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 2, 2002

New threats to East Asian security

EAST ASIA IMPERILLED: Transnational Challenges to Security, by Alan Dupont. Cambridge University Press, 2001, 336 pp., $25 (paper) The way we think about national security is changing. Traditionally, the idea of protecting a nation focused on military contests over power, wealth or territory. Not surprisingly,...
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2002

Japan scrapes the barrel after latest downgrade

Moody's Investors Service Inc. on Friday dealt a long-expected blow to Japan's credit rating, lowering it two notches to A2. The world's second largest economy and largest creditor nation is now in the same league as Cyprus, Greece and Israel.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2002

16 Britons denied entry in lead up to World Cup

Since late April, Japanese immigration authorities have turned away 16 Britons in the lead up to the World Cup soccer finals, which began Friday in Seoul, according to a British police officer.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 31, 2002

Ex-DJ spins Japan-China differences

The biggest problem between Japan and China is their lack of mutual understanding -- due largely to prejudice and ignorance, said Akiko Aoki, a former host for China Radio International, the sole Chinese national radio station broadcasting programs overseas.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2002

'Shinkin' banks get national network back online

The nationwide online network for "shinkin" credit, savings and loans banks resumed normal operations at 8 a.m. Thursday after a computer problem that crippled the system the previous day was fixed, a shinkin bank information center said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / THE WRITERS' SPIN
May 31, 2002

Keio professor applies soccer tactics to business

Watching World Cup soccer games may give corporate managers a good clue about productive organization. Shunsuke Takahashi, an expert on human resources management, said that in a "soccer style" organization, team members work autonomously and flexibly. Even defenders can take shots on goal.
BUSINESS
May 30, 2002

Shipments of DVD players up 93%

Domestic shipments of DVD players were up 92.6 percent in April from a year earlier to 185,000 units, posting a surge in the runup to the World Cup finals, an industry group said Wednesday.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight